Authenticity means being confrontational with yourself.

The self-talk has to be a “take no bullshit” attitude, where all your layers are peeled off, leaving your raw skin, unveiled, screaming the question: Is what you say, what you do and your life’s purpose matching up?

If no, haul ass, kid.

You have yet to taste the sweet, eluding nectar that can only be tapped into when you begin leading an authentic life.

That’s how I essentially came to this concept of being authentic: by peeling through my metaphoric raw skin.

Scraping off the dusted and thick layers of societal norms, useless cultural mindsets, archaic perceptions of a world where I clearly did not belong and piercing my heart until iI could feel its  blood…I finally accepted that living authentically was the only way I could ever live.

Authenticity is a primal foundation of our relationship with ourselves. Only from here can we branch out to deeply transformative relationships with others. How do we do that?

1. Being honest regardless of opinions and societal perceptions,

eg: Taboos of not choosing motherhood.

2. Accepting our flaws (a.k.a our features) and figuring out what works,

eg: Personality type triggering our anger—why?

3. Recognizing our wants vs our needs,

eg: Affection or control?

4. Identifying reactionary and behavioral patterns that inhibit our growth and positive change,

eg: Stewing in our anger—whats the point and who is it affecting?

5. Removing toxic or useless relationships that no longer attribute to love or growth,

6. Finally understanding that we, human-animal-planet, are all interlaced and we are responsible for every damn thing we do and its overarching influence,

eg: Factory farmed animal consumption—every dollar spent matters

7. Unconditional love is the only way we can ever live an authentic life. We must embody it in our breath and in every single entrenched fiber of our body.

Once you embark on this journey of authenticity, any second spent without it will suffocate you inside your own body and breathing becomes laden with fire.

Don’t do that to yourself. You have to lace up your sneakers and walk your road.

Live the authentic you, however that is. Relish it.

That is your only responsibility on this earth.

Relephant: 

7 Ways to Grow a More Authentic Life.

Author: Rajni Tripathi

Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: via the author